I’ve been on vacation this week, borrowing my parents’ cabin in the countryside of central New York. My back is feeling quite a bit better, and I have a doctor’s appointment Monday, so as long as she says it’s okay, I’ll probably go back to my once-or-twice-weekly gym visits in just a few more days.

In honor of Hourglassy’s “Fit & Active October,” Panache graciously sent me a wireless sports bra to review before I left town. Unfortunately, my back pain meant I couldn’t try it out for running or gym workouts, but I did bring it with me to try with hiking in the woods.

Disclosure: This bra was received as a review sample. All opinions are my own and based entirely on my experience.

I tried the wireless sports bra in the same size as my wired one, 30G. In regular bras, I vary from 28G to 28GG or 30FF to 30G depending on the brand. In regular Panache bras, I tend to need 28GG, though in some Cleo bras, I also may take a 30 band. In any case, the Panache wired sports bra is perfect on me in 30G, and the 30G wireless feels about the same.

The wireless bra is soft, but has permanent, molded, crease-like shaping in the interior. It’s pretty cool, because it doesn’t feel stiff, but it still maintains its three-dimensional shape.

While at the cabin this week, I’ve gone on several little hikes. One day when it was in the 50s (Fahrenheit), I skipped a bra completely when I took a leisurely two-mile walk on the road, and by the time I got done and took my jacket off, I had huge wet marks on my tee shirt from under-boob sweat. It felt so gross!

The next couple days, I wore a regular wired bra and the sports bra on hikes in the woods in similar weather, to see how they all compared. Before I left town, I also wore the sports bra on a regular day, to check out how it stacked up when worn all day long.

Unfortunately, the wireless sports bra doesn’t work for me. It felt good when I first put it on, but right away I noticed it was crushing over a bit at the base of the cup even after swooping and scooping all my breast tissue and adjusting the straps. On the day I wore it to work, I felt perfectly comfortable, but when I got undressed for bed at night, I realized it was giving me a really saggy profile.

When I took my sports bra hike in the woods, I took photos before and after walking, and the difference is really noticeable. To be fair, on both the workday and the hike, I didn’t feel any jiggling. But the wired sports bra is so successful on me that I would never reach for the wireless one instead.

Before, from the front, side, and a view from beneath the cups, where you can see it crushing over slightly:

And after, from the same angles. Click to see larger, and note the visible sweat on the underside of the cups on the second and third shots:

In the third shot, you can see that the base of the cup has not only crushed, but the bra has folded over all the way around except for the hooks and eyes.

Also note in the straight-on shot, originally the Panache logo on the band was fully visible, and in the after-shot, it’s completely covered. Here’s a side-by-side:

Seems like the band crept up and the cups sagged and went east-west.

You can also see how much of the cups folded over in this shot of the interior of the bra:

I think my boobs are simply too heavy and too full-on-bottom for a wireless bra. As such, I can’t recommend this sports bra for women who in general require lots of projection in their bras. However, it’d be worth a try for ladies with a different shape—more shallow, mainly.

I love the Panache wireless! Everyone raves about the wired version but the wire placement is wrong for me so I kept looking. I gave Panache another try with the wireless and glad I did. It’s not as uplifting as my favorite underwires, but I am more medium-projection and folding is minimal. (I’m wearing a 36F, which is my usual size in Panache.) I’ve had mine for about a year now (and bought another when the purple color came out) and wear it for gymnastics–a good test of any bra.

This is actually not an abnormal fit for a nonwired bra. It is really a completely different design that works differently on the body. On a wireless bra, its ability to settle deep in the inframammary crease and stay there is actually a sign of good fit (if it’s too loose it will ride up over the boobs, if it’s too tight it will typically creep down). I am curious how it looks when you are clothed–do you find it has taken a nosedive? I know it looks “saggy” when you are undressed because visually you are used to the appearance of a wired bra where there is none of this folding over, but when you are wearing clothes is there actual sagging?

I am interested in what your reasons are (apart from the aesthetics) for warning off women with heavier or more projected breasts, since many women in the extreme upper reaches of the size matrix find wires hard to work with for exercise. I know many who are much more concerned with function and comfort. Would you still advise against this for comfort and support reasons?

I was thinking the same thing. It looks like a very decent fit by wirefree criteria. I really wanted to love the wired version of this, for its cushioned wires alone (why are those still so rare in large cup sizes!) but mine doesn’t tack, is not FOT friendly, and just isn’t comfy. This inspires me to give the wirefree versuon a try.

I haven’t been able to run (or do other more intense exercise) in the wireless yet, so until I try that my assessment is limited. However, the wired Panache holds each breast in place SO FIRMLY, and this wireless one just doesn’t seem to. Further, since my boobs fold over the band so much in the wireless, I sweat more and the fabric holds the sweat in, which I find really uncomfortable. Meanwhile, the wired one holds the breast tissue up and out more, so the wicking feature of the fabric is able to do its job, and dries quickly.

I warn off women with breasts that are fuller on bottom (which is what I have) because that shape is more likely to crush the cups. You’ll notice in the interior photo that the cups are folding over well above the actual bra crease. This is a universal sign that a bra is too shallow for the wearer and not projected enough at the base of the cup.

Ah. Very helpful. I am quite full on top, and so my wired version fails to contain very well, & definitely has not quite enough depth in the upper cup for me. I also don’t need super high impact control as running is not part of my joint-friendly workouts. That would totally change my criteria.